FIRST RADIO NEWS BROADCAST, DETROIT'S "8MK"
Detroit, Michigan (JFK+50) The first radio news broadcast was made on August 31, 1920 by station "8MK"* here in Detroit. The announcer gave results of the Republican primary election voting in Michigan and the Detroit area.
"8MK", owned by The Detroit News, informed listeners that their programming could be heard within a 100 mile radius of Detroit on the 200 meter (1500 k.c.) band.
*"8MK" was the call sign for this radio station. Its daily broadcasts were billed as coming from "Detroit News Radiophone." Today the station is WWJ (950 k.c.) & is owned by Entercom. WWJ is Michigan's only all-news radio station & is the Flagship station for Michigan football broadcasts. It operates on 50,000 watts.
August 31, 1920
The Detroit News
